New York Rangers start 5-game trip in Seattle versus struggling Kraken
The New York Rangers start a long 5-game western road trip against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday after a disappointing loss to the Nashville Predators on Garden ice.
Thursday night, the Blueshirts fell 4-1 in what can easily be described as their worst performance of the season.
“Our worst game of the season to this point,” said a truthful Jacob Trouba stated. “I don’t think that’s a game any of us are proud of. I’m not saying that to get on guys or anything, myself included, that’s not a game I’m proud of playing. We’ll address it and move forward.”
This season, the Rangers are 1-1-0 on the road with arguably their best effort coming opening night in Buffalo for a 5-1 win over the Sabres. New York has been a strong team away from the friendly confines of MSG sporting a 24-9-8 record last season.
Here’s tonight’s game and broadcast info:
New York Rangers (2-2-0) vs. Seattle Kraken (1-3-1)
Date/Time: October 21, 2023 at 10:00 PM ET
Arena: Climate Pledge Arena
TV: MSG
Radio: 98.7 FM ESPN
Note: Subject to change, updated for each game
Related: Rangers searching for consistency under Peter Laviolette
New York Rangers projected lineup
The Rangers lineup may see some changes after the team’s loss to the Predators on Thursday. One potential change could be Jonathan Quick getting his first start of the season.
Update: Jonathan Quick will start and Will Cuylle replaces K’Andre Miller on the second power play unit per NY Post’s Mollie Walker.
Projected Lineup:
Kreider – Zibanejad – Kakko
Panarin – Chytil – Lafreniere
Cuylle – Trocheck – Wheeler
Goodrow – Bonino – Vesey
Lindgren – Fox
Miller – Trouba
Gustafsson – Schneider
Quick
Shesterkin
Note: The Rangers will hold a morning skate at 2:30 PM ET at Climate Pledge Arena. Check back for updates.
New York Rangers vs Seattle Kraken
The Rangers will begin their longest road trip of the season against four Pacific Division teams (Seattle Kraken, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks) before taking on the Central Division’s Winnipeg Jets to close out this 5-game set.
While the Blueshirts are currently playing .500 hockey, this trip could either put them in a big hole early or springboard them forward. Good news is that the Rangers posted an 11-2-3 mark against the Pacific and a 21-6-5 record versus the Central.
They hope this carries over into this season, and the Kraken may be the perfect opponent to get this started. New York holds a 3-0-1 lifetime record versus Seattle and will look to keep that goose egg in the loss column after tonight.
One player to keep on eye out for in this matchup is Blake Wheeler, who has 6 career points against the Seattle Kraken (4 goals, 2 assists) in 5 games.
Oliver Bjorkstrand leads the Kraken in scoring with 4 points in 5 games to date. No other Seattle players have more than two points, which speaks to their poor start as their goaltending has been good.
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